Zombiefalls
by Ellen Smithee
Summary: Damon and Liz babysit Tyler in the boardinghouse on the full moon. Oh, yeah, and it's the zombie apocalypse.


"I don't like this," Liz says. She winces as the werewolf-_Tyler_, she forces herself to remember-throws itself against the metal door of the cell and her hands flex involuntarily on the tranq gun. "Not one bit."

"You think I do?" Damon says. "The sooner we get out of this, the better. Maybe we should just shoot him and take our chances outside."

He takes a swig of the bottle of whiskey he's holding in his hand and hands it over to Liz. She gives him a sidelong look as she raises the bottle to her lips. She's pretty sure he's not joking, but she wasn't about to admit that she'd already had the same thought. It's not like Carol would have anything to say about it, not any more.

Carol was the first to go. Later, Alaric Saltzman had theorized that something must have been in the catering at her monthly United Daughters of the Confederacy meeting earlier in the week. When she got home, everything seemed fine till she suddenly attacked Tina Fell at the Grill, chowing down on the girl's intestines until Saltzman showed up with a shotgun and blew off the top of her head and then Tina's for good measure.

Liz shakes off the memory. Now is not the time to get maudlin, not with zombies outside and a werewolf inside. She isn't sure why she's so shocked about the zombies anyways. Her vampire daughter is dating a werewolf, for fuck's sake.

"Tyler can't help it," she says, her voice quiet, yet firm. Two of them might be monsters, but they weren't _animals_.

She takes a long draft of the whiskey and then closes her eyes, her chest tightening in worry as she thinks of her daughter. She just hopes Caroline has managed to get to safety with the others. Those creatures outside probably couldn't hurt a vampire, but the thought of them getting their hands on her little girl scares Liz to death.

"How long do you think we'll be stuck here?" she asks.

Damon shrugs. "I dunno. Till they die, I guess. But we have a bigger problem."

"What's that?" Liz instinctively pulls the gun closer, till she's practically hugging it. Something in Damon's voice is unsettling her.

"Food. All we've got is blood in the house. And we can't risk drinking the water."

Liz stares at him uncomprehendingly, her eyes widening when she catches his drift.

"No," she says, shaking her head. "At least... not yet. I can survive on whiskey for a few days, right? Maybe we'll be saved by then."

She does _not_ want to become a vampire. The mere thought of it makes her skin crawl. Still... she'll do anything to make sure Caroline stays safe. And she can't do that locked up in the Salvatores' boarding house.

Their heads both jerk up in unison as the sound of banging upstairs grows louder.

"We might not have a few days," Damon says, getting to his feet and pulling her up as well. Tyler starts to go crazy at that moment and Damon glances over at the cell door, licking his lips as he thinks.

"I have an idea," he says finally. "Why don't we let Teen Wolf here deal with it?"

Liz wants to protest, but Damon's suggestion is sounding really good just about now. After all, it's not like he can go after the zombies himself and leave her locked up with a werewolf. She'd seen what the werewolf had done to those campers last year.

"All right," she says. "What should I do?"

"Just get behind the door," he says. Shielding her with his body, he unlocks the door and pulls it open. Tyler bounds out, and, as quick as lightning, Damon grabs Liz and whizzes them both into the cell, holding the door shut as Tyler jumps against it. After a few seconds, Tyler suddenly stops and looks up, his nostrils flaring and then he lets out a howl and rushes up the stairs.

"You sure you don't want me to turn you?" Damon asks. He sits down and pats the ground next to him.

"Yes," Liz says as she joins him, scooting closer for warmth. Her voice no longer sounds as certain, however. He puts his arm around her and she lays her head on his shoulder, falling asleep almost instantly.

Liz awakes suddenly to the sound of shuffling footsteps coming down the stairs. She moves closer to Damon, who presses his finger to his lips. They stare at the door as the shuffling sound grows louder. Finally, Tyler's head appears in the window in the door. Liz starts to jump to her feet, but Damon holds her back, shaking his head.

"Hey," Tyler says, bleary-eyed. He reaches up to scratch his nose. "The zombies are all gone. And I have this really gross taste in my mouth. You don't think I..."

Liz grimaces in disgust. "No, no," she says quickly as she gets to her feet and follows Damon over to the door, waiting as he unlocks and opens it. She starts to give Tyler a hug, but stops short when she notices he's completely naked. Instead, she reaches out to pat his shoulder while steadfastly keeping her eyes above his neck. She is _not_ about to check out her daughter's boyfriend's package. "I'm sure you didn't... _eat_ them. It was probably just-"

She breaks off as Damon's phone suddenly beeps and she turns to look at him. His shoulders sag as he reads the message.

"It's Stefan," he says. "Everyone's safe. And Bonnie did some sort of hocus pocus witchy thingy and saved the day. Shortest zombie apocalypse ever."

"Thank _God_," Tyler says. "I thought I'd-" His voice trails off as he glances down and notices his state of undress, apparently for the first time. Blushing slightly, he raises his head and clears his throat. "Uh, got some clothes I can borrow, Salvatore?"

"Upstairs," Damon says with a smirk. "Third door on the right."

As Tyler heads up the stairs, Damon cocks his head at Liz.

"My offer still stands," he says softly. "You'd be a pretty hot vamp, Liz."

Liz feels the blood rush to her face at his compliment and she turns away, flustered.

"Yeah, well, I'd better get to work," she says gruffly. "The town is probably in chaos."

She's halfway up the stairs when he calls her name. She stops and looks down at him.

"You didn't say no," he says.

She shrugs and grins. "You're right. I didn't. See you around, Damon."


End file.
